Longevity with a Turtle

Chapter 111: Chapter 99: Switching Cultivation Techniques

”Southwest District, Courtyard 512,” Chen Jianghe noted. ”What a coincidence. It’s the exact same district number I had when I was raising fish on the outskirts of Jingyue Lake.”

Qingping Lane belonged to the single-room courtyard sequence. Having already paid a year’s rent at the housing agency, Chen Jianghe held the array disc they had provided and arrived at Courtyard 512 in the Southwest District.

It was a residence with high, dark-cyan walls. The courtyard gates were made of Korean pine, emitting a faint, elegant fragrance. Below the door ring on the gate, there was a circular groove that perfectly matched the array disc in his hand.

He first branded his Divine Sense mark onto the array disc before placing it into the groove. With a loud CLANG, streams of cyan light radiated from the disc and flowed across the entire gate.

With a mere thought, the courtyard gate opened.

He walked inside. The single-room courtyard covered less than a tenth of an acre. The yard itself was roughly thirty square meters, while the room was slightly under twelve. The dark-cyan brick walls and brown roof tiles gave it a quiet, understated atmosphere that suited his personality perfectly.

”Although it isn’t big, it’s enough for me to live in,” he muttered.

Despite the small size of the single-room courtyards in Qinghe Marketplace, their security and privacy were exceptionally high. This tiny property actually featured three miniature Tier Two Lower-Grade arrays: a Spirit Gathering Array, a Defense Array, and an Avoidance Array.

The Spirit Gathering Array condensed Spiritual Qi. All the courtyards in the Southwest District were equipped with Tier Two Lower-Grade Spirit Gathering Arrays, while those in the Northwest District only had Tier One High-Grade Spirit Gathering Arrays. Out on the streets of Qinghe Marketplace, the Spiritual Qi wasn’t very abundant. It was slightly stronger than a Tier One Middle-Grade Spiritual Vein, but it didn’t quite reach the level of a Tier One High-Grade Spiritual Vein.

The Defense Array in the Southwest District courtyards was also Tier Two Lower Grade, capable of withstanding short bursts of attacks from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Putting aside whether a Foundation Establishment Cultivator would even dare to cause trouble in Qinghe Marketplace, even if they did, the array could hold out for dozens of breaths—more than enough time for the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators stationed in the marketplace to arrive. Therefore, placing a Defense Array in every courtyard served as a dual layer of security.

Lastly, the Avoidance Array was designed to block the Divine Sense of Foundation Establishment Cultivators. In other words, nothing one did inside the courtyard could be discovered by cultivators outside. Not even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Divine Sense could pry into the yard, ensuring an incredibly high degree of privacy. Furthermore, if one looked down from the sky above Qinghe Marketplace, they would only see a hazy blur over each courtyard, completely obstructing the naked eye.

For Chen Jianghe, this was undeniably an incredibly considerate setup. He had Little Black and Fur Ball with him, both of which possessed Third-Grade Bloodlines. Little Black even had a Third-Grade High-Class Bloodline. If this were discovered, he would likely become a celebrity in Qinghe Marketplace overnight. A Loose Cultivator carrying two Spirit Beasts with Third-Grade Bloodlines? He figured he would never be allowed to leave Qinghe Marketplace alive if word got out.

Chen Jianghe walked into the room and took a look around. The furnishing was extremely simple: a wooden bed and a set of a table and chairs. There was absolutely nothing else. As for hosting guests, cultivators generally did not bring visitors into their homes. Instead, they would head to the taverns in Qinghe Marketplace or the scenic corridor on the first floor of the Hundred Treasures Tower.

”Truly not bad,” he mused. ”What a pity that I’ll have to move out once the actual homeowner arrives. I just don’t know if there will be any vacant single-room courtyards available by then.”

Having finished inspecting the property, Chen Jianghe left in satisfaction. Now that he was settled in Qinghe Marketplace, the next step was to purchase talisman painting materials and the Fasting Pills that were mandatory in the marketplace.

Thinking about the Fasting Pills, a wave of helplessness washed over him. Back at Jingyue Lake, his daily necessities for an entire year only cost around ten grains of Spiritual Sand. But here in Qinghe Marketplace, even if he did absolutely nothing, he was still required to spend sixteen Spirit Stones a year. And that was just for him alone. For an entire family, the cost would far exceed sixteen Spirit Stones.

It was no wonder Zhou Miaoyun’s family had left Qinghe Marketplace. Without a sufficient income of Spirit Stones, it was simply impossible to survive here.

A short while later, Chen Jianghe arrived at the Hundred Treasures Tower. He headed straight up to the second floor and spent eight Spirit Stones on a pot of Fasting Pills. He then purchased a box of Spiritual Ink and fifty sheets of High-Quality Yellow Paper. In total, he spent eleven Spirit Stones.

Combined with the eight Spirit Stones he had paid for rent, he now had a mere fifteen grains of Spiritual Sand left to his name.

However, he still had some talisman materials in his Storage Pouch left over from his last shopping trip at Jingyue Marketplace. He still possessed over twenty sheets of High-Quality Yellow Paper and more than half a box of Spiritual Ink. His Tier One Lower-Grade Peach Wood Talisman Pen could still be used over two hundred times. His Middle-Grade Wolf Hair Talisman Pen had plenty of uses left too; after all, he hadn’t painted many Middle-Grade Spiritual Talismans since buying it.

”Sigh, I should just sell the Cold Ice Talisman at a loss,” he reasoned.

When subduing Fur Ball, Little Black had been a bit heavy-handed, so he needed to buy some healing Spirit Liquid. The fifteen grains of Spiritual Sand he had on him were definitely not enough to afford it. After mulling it over, he decided to sell the Cold Ice Talisman first. If he sold his High-Grade Protection Talisman or his High-Grade Five Elements Escape Talisman instead, the loss would be even greater.

As for the Middle-Grade Flying Sword he had looted from the Tribulation Cultivator, it would be best to wait a few years before fencing it.

Approaching the Spirit Talisman Counter, he sold the High-Grade Cold Ice Talisman. He received eight Spirit Stones and fifty grains of Spiritual Sand. Added to his initial fifteen grains, he now had eight Spirit Stones and sixty-five grains of Spiritual Sand in total.

”I need to hurry up and paint more talismans when I get back,” he thought. ”Otherwise, who knows when these cash-strapped days will finally end.”

Back when he had just reached the Talisman Dao Entry Level, he thought the good days had finally arrived, only to realize that he still never had enough Spirit Stones. Once he became a Lower-Grade Talisman Master, his annual net profit could reach dozens of Spirit Stones. He thought he was finally going to be wealthy.

Yet, he was still poor. So poor, in fact, that he had to start selling off his belongings.

”Fellow Cultivator, what do you need to buy?”